RAM ANALYSIS
RAMS refers to Reliability, Availability and Maintainability Study which is a decision-making tool used to identify how to increase the availability of the system, and thus increase the overall profit as well as reducing the life cycle costs. Reliability is defined as the fraction or percentage of time that an item is available to respond to a demand placed upon it. Various techniques are such as Reliability Block Diagrams (RBDs) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) can be used to determine Reliability. Availability is defined as a fraction or percentage of time that an item has not failed and is thus available for demand. Based on this particular approach, unavailability can be defined as a fraction or percentage of time that an item has failed. Active and Reactive maintenance programs are required in order to ensure the reliability of equipment and thus the reliability and availability of Safety Instrumented Functions. RAM analysis can be applied at various stages of the life cycle:
- Pre-FEED (i.e. design conceptualization) – RAM analysis can be used to compare various design options that are being considered through quantification of the production output of each option. Conducting a RAM analysis at this stage, while the design is still being finalized is known to reduce the cost and schedule impact on the project than if conducted at a later stage.
- FEED – At the FEED stage, critical equipment is identified which could cause significant production losses. A RAM analysis would normally be conducted on these critical types of equipment in order to optimize the equipment configuration and identify the requirements of any further spares or equipment redundancies in order to optimize the availability of the system.
- Detailed Engineering – At the detailed engineering stage it is likely that the design is frozen with minimal changes. A RAM study at this point would allow the client to identify performance targets that must be met by the equipment, which can be used as part of the equipment design specification during procurement.
- Process Operation – While the process is in operation, conducting a RAM study using the data of the as-built facility can bring the benefit of identifying unreliable equipment which is leading to production losses.
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Risk-Based Inspections (RBI)
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) is a Total Quality Assurance approach that minimizes downtime and ensures equipment longevity for oil and chemical plants. Analysis of fixed equipment, piping, pipelines, and pressure relief devices at a facility using an RBI approach can increase the effectiveness of the mechanical integrity inspection program while minimizing risk to Health, Safety, and the Environment (HS&E) and maximizing resource utilization. Through the application of RBI analysis, process variables and materials of construction are considered to identify the type of damage that can lead to failure, where it may occur, the frequency of inspections that should take place, and appropriate and cost-effective inspection techniques.
As a result, items with a high probability of failure and subsequent impact are given a higher priority for inspection than items that are of low impact, allowing for a more rational application of inspection resources. The entire process results in focusing resources on specific assets that are most likely to pose a risk to the facility.
Also Read: Developing a Culture of Safety in Construction
By Antonia Beri
(Technical and Process Safety Expert)
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